Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-02-23

| Wis0iy. VIII uOL 30 hamper YOU. III I
year from now you will be established
then l will come to you.'
. ain the meantime she toiled early anG
late saving the money to help furnish the
ittle home he was buying and she allowed
him to set the wedding day.
Il think with all her hard work she was
happy then. save the regret she felt for her
sisters luckless marriage. She seemed
cheerful and contented ALWAYS when I met
her, and often spoke of her approaching
marriage with grave, trustful. joy that
touched me deeply.
HBut her life seemed doomed to sorrew
On the day before her wedding her sister
came back to her deserted, heart-broken
wife. Her husband had left her in o
drunken rage, refusing to support either
her or her child.
"Instead of reviling her, Jennie took her
back with love and forgiveness.
"'What have is yours" she said, and
will always be- Then she laid away the
wedding veil and the orange blossoms; say
ing to herself, mot yet
Poor patient heart, how she must have
| suffered The love of this man was all
| that life held for her. The next day James
arrived from the South. How sorrowful she
must have felt when she placed her slender
hand on his, saying:
"'We cannot marry yet. Another
burden is laid upon me which must carry
for awhile, at least
"And how angry he was when he said:
"'You shall marry mel You have
! sacrificed enough for this ungrateful sister.
Let her take care of herself
But she is helpless; with that little
child only few months old, what would
she dop No, cannot desert her,
"'Wel1, you shall either give her up and
marry me, or you can take her. You must
choose between usp
"Men are often noble to exaltation, but
think they seldom realize the depth of a
weman's self sacrifice. Jennie looked at
him with imploring eyes and white face,
but he did not yield.
I will do all that I can for you. 1 love
you and will work for you as long az I live,
but not one thing will ever do for that
miserable sister of yours. If you choose
her all things must be at an end between
u.s.
''His words seemed cruel, yet after all he
was not greatly to blame. He had borne
much, and he loved her.
"The struggle must have been a hard
one; no one but herself will ever know the
agony Of it, but she chose the duty and gave
up the love.
''He went away the next day. l think
she thought he would relent, but he never
did. A year later he married girl in Los
Angeles, Jennie still bearing the burden
which had been self-imposed. Her sister
was helpless woman, incapable of sup
porting herself, and she was in ill health.
She did not live long, but when she was
dead Jennie still had life long care in the
ntrl Sba loft hob ind
always to slip into the yoke.
''She was ill for weeks after the marriage
OF her lover 1t seemed to me she has
never smiled since. All the youth seemed
to die out of her then, and she faded into
the dull, tired woman that we see daily pass
ing cur door.
'Her life has been continued giving-up
a yielding of self to inexorable duties.
No one knows the death struggle of her
youth, the patient daily martyrdom that
has bleached her hair and whitened her
face To die for great cause is easy, is
glorious, compared to this lifelong denial,
this wearing, treading through the narrow,
fiowerless path of duty
ITO most persons she is only poor 'old
maid music-teacher; to me, she is one of
the noblest bravest heroines that ever lived.
She has borne the lifelong cross. God
grant she may wear the eternal crown"
Mrs. Newcome paused. The slender
dropping figure that had passed their door
few moments before came back, stopping
at the gate.
''TheEe she is now! am SO glad she is
coming in" Mrs. Newcome rose to meet
her.
God bless herp' exclaimed Stella under
her breath, wiping away the tears that
rose in her eyes. ''God bless her.
Then she rose to meet Miss Gordon, hid |
ing out Of sight the dainty garments of her |
wedding outfit. 1t was a noble instinct
that bade her do this, for these things
might have brought back the old pain to |
the suffering heart that had laid aside the |
orange bloom forever.